Three  Little  Kittens 


A  Story  for  Little  Tots 
By  UNCLE  MILTON 


Published  and  Copyrighted  1908  by 

THE    ULLMAN    MFG.    CO. 
NEW  YORK 


NE  morning  Mrs.  Tabby  Car 
called  her  three  little  child- 
ren, Monser,  Touscr  and 
Pussy,  and  said:  "Mamma 
will  be  very  busy  to-day,  as  she  must 
make  a  Milk  pudding  and  some  Mouse 
pie  for  to-morrow's  dinner,  because 
Aunt  Kittie  is  coming  to  visit  us,  so 
you  must  be  good  children  and  go  to 
school.  After  school  you  can  play  until 
supper  time;  but  be  careful  and  do  not 
get  into  trouble  or  mischief.  When 
you  come  home,  if  you  have  been  good 
little  kittens,  I  will  give  each  of  you 
a  piece  of  Mouse  pie.  Now  run  along 
to  school." 


O  Mouser,  To  user  and  Pussy 
started  for  school  as  happy 
as  could  be  for  they  were 
thinking  of  the  Mouse  pie. 
They  had  not  gone  far  before  they 
heajd  a  terrible  growl  and  as  they 
looked  to  see  what  it  was  they  saw  a 
fierce  looking  dog  behind  the  fence  in 
Jimmie  Brozvn's  yard.  He  was  a 
strange  dog  that  they  had  never  seen 
before  and  he  looked  so  cross  that  they 
ran  as  fast  as  they  could.  But  the 
fence  was  strong,  so  the  dog  could  not 
get  out  to  chase  them.  They  had  a 
terrible  fright,  and  were  glad  when 
they  reached  a  place  of  safety. 


s 


N  school,  Mauser,  who  stil 
remembered  the  big  dog  that 
had  frightened  them  so,  and 
the  nice  Mouse  pie  that  their 
mother  had  promised  them,  went  to  the 
blackboard  at  recess  time  and  wrote  in 
large  letters  BAD  DOGS,  NICE 
MICE.  It  made  the  other  kittens 
laugh  very  much  and  they  all  agreed 
with  him  that,  of  all  things,  dogs  are 
the  worst,  and  mice  the  best.  In  fact 
they  much  preferred  mice  to  ice-cream. 
What  do  you  think  of  that?  They 
learned  lots  of  useful  things  in  school 
such  as  catching  mice,  and  chasing 
birds,  but  principally  singing,  so  that 
when  they  grew  up  they  could  have  con- 
certs on  the  back  fence. 


6 


FTER  school  was  over  the 
remembered  what  their 
mother  had  said  about  play- 
ing until  supper  time,  so 
they  thought  they  would  go  into  Jim- 
mie  Brozvn's  garden  where  the  ground 
\vas  soft  and  where  they  could  play 
hide-and-seek,  and  soldiers  with  Mr. 

i 

Brown's  big  flag.  They  had  quite  for- 
gotten about  the  bad  dog  by  this  time 
and  were  only  thinking  of  play.  The 
dog  had  been  put  there  by  Jiininie  to 
frighten  away  little  boys  who  came 
to  take  apples,  but  he  thought  it  his 
duty  to  frighten  away  cats  as  well. 
Luckily  he  was  asleep  in  his  kennel  and 
didn't  hear  the  kittens. 


OUSER,  bein^  the  oldest,  too 
the  lead  and  they  were  soon 
poking  about  in  search  of 
fun.  Suddenly  Mouser  came 
to  a  closet  near  the  house  where  Mrs. 
Brozvn  kept  her  preserves.  On  the 
shelf  stood  a  row  of  jams  and  jellies 
that  made  his  mouth  water  to  look  at. 
He  quickly  got  up  on  a  chair  and  poked 
about  the  jars,  one  of  which  he  upset. 
At  length  he  found  some  currant  jam 
and  began  eating  it  greedily.  Oh !  what 
a  state  he  was  in,  with  jam  smeared  all 
over  his  face  and  clothes  !  But  he  smiled 
sweetly  and  said,  "That  was  very 
good,"  and  he  looked  for  more  mis- 
chief. 


N  the  garden  he  found  a  pot 
of  red  paint  that  Jimmic 
Brown's  father  had  careless- 
ly left  standing-  by  the 
fence.  Mouscr  loved  painting  as  much 
as  he  loved  eating  jam.  He  had  at 
home  a  little  box  of  paints  that  his 
big  cousin  Tom  had  given  him  for 
Christmas.  Mouscr  thought  the  fence 
would  look  better  if  it  were  red,  so  he 
painted  as  hard  as  he  could,  quite  un- 
mindful that  there  were  any  such  things 
as  dogs  in  the  world.  While  most  of 
the  paint  went  on  the  fence,  quite  a 
lot  spattered  on  his  clothes,  but  he  did- 
n't mind  that. 


X  the  meantime,  Pussy  foun< 
a  watering  can  in  the  garden. 
There  was  water  in  it,  so 
she  thought  she  would 
sprinkle  some  on  the  yellow  sun  flowers 
and  see  if  they  would  not  grow  as  tall 
as  Jack's  bean  stalk.  She  said  she 
hoped  they  would  grow  up  to  the  sky 
as  she  wanted  to  climb  up  and  pick 
a  star  and  see  what  made  it  shine  so 
brightly  and  twinkle  so  merrily.  Then 
she  picked  some  catnip  to  take  home  to 
her  mother,  who  was  very  fond  of  it 
and  often  made  catnip  sauce  when  they 
had  pudding  for  dinner. 


OUSER,  who  had  found 
big  fat  watermelon,  thought 
it  would  he  jolly  to  carry  it 
home  to  his  Mama;  but, 
just  as  he  was  about  to  try  and  roll 
it  away,  he  heard  a  noise  that  fright- 
ened him  very  much.  Boit'-ivoiv-ivow 
was  what  he  heard  and  though  it  seem- 
ed far  off  at  first,  as  he  listened  it 
seemed  to  be  coming  nearer  rapidly. 
Bow-wow-wow!  AYhat  a  terrible  sound 
for  a  little  kitten  to  hear.  The  dog  had 
awakened,  and  seeing  the  kittens  at 
play,  made  a  dash  at  them,  barking  with 
all  his  might  and  looking  very  savage. 
Dogs  ought  to  know  better  than  to 
frighten  little  kittens. 


\ 


OUSER  and  Pussy  had  heard 
the  dreadful  noise  also,  so 
they  all  scampered  together 
as  fast  as  they  could  to  reach 
the  hole  in  the  fence  through  which 
they  had  come  in.  They  were  very  much 
frightened  and  Touscr  lost  a  boot  and 
Mouscr  tore  a  big  hole  in  his  cont  on 
a  bramble  bush,  while  two  little  mice, 
who  were  hidden  in  the  grass  clapped 
their  hands,  hoping  that  the  big  dog 
would  catch  the  bad  Kittens.  The  Kit- 
tens were  in  too  great  a  hurry  to  run 
after  the  mice  and  only  thought  of  get- 
ting awray  as  quickly  as  possible  from 
the  dreadful  dog  who  barked  so  fiercely. 


HEV  finally  reached  tin 
fence,  and  crawling  through, 
ran  for  home  as  fast  as  they 
could.  The  hig  dog  could  not 
get  under  the  fence  to  chase  them.  He 
got  his  head  caught  between  the  boards, 
which  served  him  right  for  being  so 
unkind.  But,  oh !  how  frightened  the 
three  kittens  were  and  how  they  had 
spoiled  their  nice  clothes.  Their  after- 
noon's pleasure  was  all  gone.  The 
watermelon  and  the  catnip  were  left 
behind  in  their  hurry,  and  Pussy  got 
her  head  all  scratched  on  a  nail  in 
the  fence.  They  were  very  much  wor- 
ried too,  as  to  what  their  Mama  would 
say. 


RS.  TABBY  CAT  was  ven 
angry  when  her  kittens  came 
home  and  she  saw  their  ter- 
rible condition.  You  never 
saw  nice  little  kittens  look  so  dirty. 
Mauser's  coat  was  all  daubed  with  red 
paint  and  jam,  so  she  took  off  his  clothes 
and  sent  him  to  bed  without  any  sup- 
per for  being  so  naughty.  "Mauser 
was  the  oldest,"  she  said,  "and  ought 
to  show  his  brother  and  sister  a  good 
example."  Mauser  felt  very  sorry  and 
said  as  he  stood  by  his  bed :  "Oh !  I  do 
so  want  to  be  a  good  kitten  and  mind 
my  Mama!"  Then  he  crept  into  bed 
and  was  very  sad  indeed. 


T  took  Mama  nearly  an  hou: 
to  clean  the  Kittens'  clothes. 
Then  they  sat  down  to  a 
supper  of  Mouse-pie  which 
was  really  very  fine.  Monscr  didn't 
get  a  bite,  but  he  smelled  the  pie,  and 
sighed  and  said:  "This  is  what  comes 
of  being  naughty." 

At  last  he  fell  asleep  and  dreamed 
that  he  was  in  a  big  garden  where  all 
the  flowers  and  fruits  were  mice  and 
there  were  no  cruel  dogs  to  bark  and 
bite,  and  he  was  very  happ 

Nex^day  his  Mother  ird  forgiven 
him  for  she  loved  him  in  s  )ite  of  his 
faults,  and  Mouser  made*  up  his  mind 
never  to  get  into  trouble  again,  pvy 

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